Posted By Jim Armstrong On April 1, 2011 @ 12:34 pm In National League | No Comments

Five years ago, the Rockies’ opening day lineup didn’t exactly encompass a rainbow coalition of nationalities. They had one player, Rule 5 pickup Luis Gonzalez, who was born outside the United States.

How things have changed. The Rockies’ 2011 25-man roster includes 11 foreign-born players, second most among big league clubs to the Yankees’ 16. The Tigers, Angels and Dodgers also have 11 foreign-born players.

Major League Baseball broke down the opening day rosters and concluded that 27.7 percent of players were born outside the U.S., ranging from the Dominican Republic, which produced 86 players, to Korea, which produced one.

The Rockies’ 11 foreign-born players come from Venezuela, the Dominican, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Two Venezuelans, Carlos Gonzalez and Jose Lopez, are in today’s starting lineup, along with opening day starter Ubald Jimenez, who hails from the Dominican Republic.